When Wagner was scrambling to put another game on its schedule late this summer, the options that late in the process weren’t many.

Finally, just before the school year began, coach Dan Hurley received a hurried commitment from North Carolina Central, a program which graduated to Division I several seasons back and was about to begin its inaugural season in the MEAC.

It seemed, at first glance, like a pretty comfortable fit as a home opener for a team in a pinch.

Until the Seahawks checked the fine print, that is.

The Division I newbie without a track record to check out turned out to be a team led by athletic forward Dominique Sutton, who went for 21 points and 10 rebounds against the Seahawks when he was wearing a Kansas State jersey in December of 2008.
--- WAGNER AT A GLANCE

And the 6-5 Sutton is not the only Eagle with high-level hoop experience.

Fellow UNCC starters Justin Leemow (South Florida), Ray Willis (Oklahoma) and Landon Clement (UNC-Greensboro) have all played in higher-profile conferences than the MEAC.

“They are good, very good,” said Hurley early yesterday morning, just hours after his team’s gritty 78-66 loss at reigning national champion Connecticut Monday. “One of our problems is that, because of the success we’ve had recruiting, some teams don’t want to face us. We were dropped by some schools.”

The impressive NC Central roster isn’t the only challenge facing Wagner tonight. The Seahawks are playing a third game in five days. Forty-eight hours prior to meeting UConn, Wagner defeated Princeton 73-57 on Saturday.

“The schedule is what it is,” Hurley shrugged. “I know we’re asking a lot of our guys, but I think they’ve responded positively so far.”

That was certainly the case at Gampel Pavilion on Monday, when the Seahawks scrapped back into the fray several times against a huge and multi-talented No. 4-ranked Connecticut team that threatened over and over to blow the game open.

“We were physically overmatched at every position except point guard,” said Hurley. “But our guys fought back all game, and I think that in the end (UConn) treated us with respect.”

Is the effort at UConn just one more reason to be concerned about the readiness to perform tonight?

“I’m hoping that we’ll have a good crowd at home and that our guys will be able to feed off the emotion and the excitement,” said Hurley.

The grind isn’t over for the Seahawks after tonight.

Wagner plays at Lafayette Saturday, and will meet Penn at the Palestra on Tuesday. That’s five games in 11 days.

“Brutal,” was Hurley’s assessment of the stretch. “But we’ve been able to spread out minutes a lot more because of our added depth this season. And we’ve talked a lot about not overreacting to anything either positive or negative and just trying to be a better team by December.”

The key Wagner statistic over the first two games jumps off the page: The Seahawks forced an average of 23.5 turnovers vs. Princeton and UConn.

Telling stats for tonight?

The Eagles turned it over 19 times in a 73-57 loss at Charlotte and were beaten off the glass by a seriously deficient 45-29 margin.

It’s a Spiro Center doubleheader, with the Wagner women playing their home opener at 5 against Columbia. The Seahawk women opened on the road with a loss at West Point Friday.